Ah, sweet nectar of live blogging returneth. Be ready for a triple-screen day. Quadruple? You wild things.

Since we’re still in January, the rankings are quite mercurial and largely irrelevant, but I’m starting to keep an eye on RQS-usable totals. (See: RQS Explained if……you want RQS explained.) If teams leave this weekend still without any strong scores to use for their RQS six, that puts pressure on nearly all of the remaining meets not just to be hits but good hits. A number of teams will have seven meets left after this weekend, and getting six high scores in seven meets is a lot to ask.

For reference, teams looking for a #1 regionals seed want to be scoring around the 197.2 zone, teams looking for a second seed need to be in the 196.6 zone, and teams hoping to make regionals need to start scoring in the 195.3 zone as we head toward the meat of the season.

Remember to check in on the Week 4 Results page for final scores and the week’s running event and AA leaderboards.

Random thoughts while we wait to begin: Does anyone else get those “call The Addiction Network” commercials where the woman who says, “I was addicted to heroine” sort of looks like Shayla?

So, the intent will be to follow all three of the SEC meets right now, but LSU/Kentucky will be the primary focus. Though basically, it’s just going to be a big old mess. I’ll try to remember to note the team of the gymnast when doing quick hits to make things a little less confusing.

Cerio – UB – Auburn – Nice shape on piked jaeger and bail – hitting handstand position will be the major deduction – step back on double tuck.

Davis of Kentucky very short on full.

Hundley with a full – hop back. Fine but not great.

Zamardiof LSU just a step forward on her double Arabian –

Good vault for Broussard to start for Georgia.

Moss is in the bars lineup for Auburn – wonderful Gienger amplitude but totally botches a handstand in there that will take the score down.

Boren – UF – VT – excellent amplitude on her 1.5 as always, but a larger step back with both feet that will take away a major score.

Hambrick – UB – NOOOO – overbalances her first handstand and has to recast. Step forward on tuck full dismount as well, which is odd for her.

Beth Roberts is back to vaulting for Georgia – full – larger hop back, not much amplitude but got through it –

Auburn has a fall in the 3rd position on bars from Kopec and will have to count the 9.700 from Moss.

Slocum – VT – didn’t stick this time! Small hop back –

Nice open for Dickson on vault for Georgia.

Dukes for UK lands quite short on a Y1/2 with a large stumble backward.

Edney – UB – hindorff is excellent – working through well – good final handstand – excellent DLO with a staggered stick. Very strong.

How exactly did Hambrick still get a 9.725 when she went over on a handstand and had to take an extra swing.

McMurtry does the DTY! – almost almost almost sticks, just grabbing on with the toes to hold it, which is apparent mostly in slo mo – a deeper landing than her full obviously but very nice – still goes 9.950 –

Kentucky struggling with a lot of these vault landings. Not a #6 performance so far.

Marino – Vt – Georgia – staying with the full – small hop.

Finnegan hops forward on her DLO bars dismount, she usually sticks that thing.

Korth – UK – VT – Good height on her 1.5, medium-sized step back, but should still be strong score.

Day – Auburn – UB – good first hs – toe-on right on – jaeger to overshoot is clean – short final handstand is only major problem – hop on double front –

Priessman – UB – clean through – solid hs – whips out her DLO but sticks it. Will be strong.

Phew! First whirlwind rotation down! Here’s what we saw.

Rotation 1:Florida 49.400, Auburn 49.050
Somehow, Auburn escaped that rotation with a score over 49. They pulled it together for those final routines, but there were quite a few breaks in there. Lucky to get out with that score. No Baker on vault again for Florida. Leading score is 9.950 for McMurtry on her DTY with just a small lean. I’m fine with that score.
LSU 49.350, Kentucky 48.575
Very disappointing vault rotation for Kentucky, I saw the poor landings from Davis and Dukes that understandably did not score well. Korth was very good for 9.850 to lead the rotation. Hambrick got a gift on bars, but her score was dropped anyway. Priess and Edney with 9.925s led the rotation, those were the two stuck DLOs as well. Amazing how that works out.

Georgia 49.275, Missouri 48.875
Saw the least of this one, but Dickson and Marino had some solid fulls. No Snead in the lineup today, so it was a lineup of fulls, which they won’t want to maintain. Britney Ward had to do bars in the absence of Porter, so that’s where we are.

Finnegan went 9.850 on her opening vault. In unrelated news, LSU is not at home at this meet.

Dukes – UB – half turn to tkatchev, solid but a little flat – loses her legs in the pak – not her day so far, which is surprising – handstands are nice, though – whippy DLO with a lunge back. Not a great one.

McMurtry with her usual stick on bars dismount – but caught her Ray quite close –

Edney – VT – NEARLY able to stick this one, looked like she might have it but takes a step back.

Gracie Day with a step back on her 1.5

Rosa for Kentucky peels off on her Tkatchev.

BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO SYDNEY SNEAD???? She’s not in the lineups today as Georgia puts up just five on bars. They all hit so it’s fine, and big scores from Dickson and Schick erased the early 9.775s.

Hambrick – UB – sits her 1.5. LADY! Suddenly not a good day for Hambrick, mistakes on both of her first two events.

In other news, Hambrick and Snead are my entire fantasy gym team.

Hyland – UB – Kentucky – solid first hs – a little late on giant full – crazy legs on her Gienger – good bail position – opens well out of tuck full, nearly sticks, shuffle forward.

Gnat – VT – almost sticks her DTY this time, smallish slide back. The usual legs. They’re counting the 9.700 from Ewing already and are not getting the scores they usually get on vault. 9.825 for Edney, which would have been a tenth higher at home.

Korth – UB – lovely piked jaeger – small arch in hs but good vertical – rushes that bail a little – DLO 1/1 dismount PERFECT AND STUCK. She didn’t even pike down the second salto the way most do.

Georgia is already a rotation ahead. Reynolds on beam now – legs on bhs loso series but secure – a hop forward on kickover front – switch side is nice – bend forward on side somi but saves it – 2/1 dismount with large hop back. 1 routine down!

Baker – BB – good wolf turn – now, I would consider that walkover to bhs breaking the connection – she paused with a little lean on that walkover – split to split 1/2, check on split 1/2 – stide aerial to layout dismount is excellent, stuck. But what about the acro series? She gets credit and gets a 9.800

Cerio for Auburn has every nice straddle positions and twisting form

Sanders – BB – UGA – long pause before opening series but securely landed – a little tight in switch side but fine – full turn – standing back tuck to split, small pause in connection – standing fromt tuck is deep as usual but she has worked out how to land it – two hits!

McLaughlin – BB – FL – also with a bend correction on her walkover to bhs – these are not acro series! – nice stag and secure – some checks here and there, like on full turn – nice side aerial – gainer full with a hop back. Quite tentative in first two routines for Florida. Also gets series credit for 9.825.

No Kelley on floor for LSU after her vault injury. Endey will debut on floor instead –

Dickson is back on beam for Georgia – large wobble on walkover but otherwise hitting a routine this time – pause before dismount – 2/1 with large bounce back. 9.750 is charitable.

Hundley – BB – clean walkover – very secure loso series – cat leap to switch side it fine – full turn – side aerial to full – bends to hang onto the stick.

Ewing – FX – frotn 2/1 – small lack of control in step backward – also hops on front layout second pass but these are minor errors – sticks double pike

Broussard – BB – hits her loso series well this time – switch to straddle 1/4 with a check – a couple moments of 0.05 checks here and there – tight but not missing – larger break on side aerial, leg up – sticks staggered gainer full –

Stuart for Kentucky does a side aerial to tuck full beam dismount and basically lands it entirely off the mat with a couple steps to the side.

Zamardi – FX – lunge forward out of double Arabian but stays in – a bit of a slide on her double back – slightly crooked on popa this time but no biggie – 1.5 to layout, she does well to dance out of passes to cover up lack of control, but it’s still a lack of control.

Boren – BB – solid kickover front – check and leg up on bhs loso series – another large check on her standing loso – not one of her good routines, lots of breaks here – also two steps on gainer full. Will be a low score.

Babalis – BB – bend at the hips on a kickover front – ditches the double tuck for a front full, good decision, small hop

Poland just barely saves her layout stepout series, but a large wobble –

Priessman – FX – staggered legs on full in but controlled nicely through the step – front layout front full sissone – excellent position on leaps – bounces abck out of her double pike pretty far but manages to stay in –

Schick – BB – bhs loso is clean and solid – walkover to sissone – switch and beat jump look good – bend at the hips on a side aerial though which should be a significant deduction –

McMurtry was excellent on kickover front on beam – hop back on otherwise very high double full – did have a break on her series – it’s the day of leg-up wobbles on layout stepout series.

Missouri has kind of been lost in the shuffle here, but hitting a solid meet in the absence of Porter. Lots of 9.8s everywhere, which they will take.

I love Rott’s layout to stag out of her middle pass. A bit short on double back dismount but saves it.

Hambrick finishes floor with very strong double pike, just a quiver of the foot, which can make it seem less controlled than if she had taken a larger but intentional controlled step. Just NAILED her double layout, that’s more like it for today. Amazing DLO.

Dukes – BB – lovely full turn – extremely secure loso series – walkover to beat jump is precise – she is single-handedly saving this rotation so far – switch with a check into straddle 1/4, really tried to keep it going for her leap series – we’ll see – step forward on dismount. 9.825.

Edney – FX – for first time this season – casual awesome double arabian – 1.5 to layout is very clean through the legs and landed securely – why exactly has she not been in this lineup – switch ring and split full, not the most extended but I like that she went for difficulty – controlled step back on double tuck.

“The personality at the end, the dab.”

Hyland – BB – cat leap to walkover – slow in connection into bhs loso series, small check – side aerial to tuck full and stuck. The last couple saved the score here a bit.

Gnat – FX – excellent on the DLO, it’s quite arched which makes it not as aesthetically pleasing as Hambrick’s but she uses that to control it – 2.5 to front tuck is a bit off line, dances back to control the front tuck – double pike, a little bit larger on the step back this time.

Rotation 4:
Boyce – FX – front 2/1, crossover step not too extreme this time – double turn controlled well actually for being my nemesis, the double turn on floor – small stumble in front pike out of second pass and then totally botches her leap combination and has to do a little straight jump in place that looked hilarious – bounce back on rudi –

Gowey – FX – secure double pike, chest down but not too bad – lovely leap positions and ampltiude – same on double tuck, secure but chest too far down – 1.5 to layout is a little whippy but good routine overall

Roberts – FX – UGA – fine double pike, not high but gets it around – dance lunges out of her front layout second pass – leaps are the stronger part of the routine – bounce back out of double tuck. 9.850, scores going high for this rotation –

Engler – Aub – BB – excellent shape on switch and straddle 1/4 – side aerial is solid – step to the side on gainer pike

Hundley – FX – whip to double tuck, not the floatiest pass they could choose but securely landed, much like Slocum – front layout front full with a bounce – good switch side and popa, very well completed – two bounces out of double pike, just does stay in but will lose some tenths for that landing.

Babalis with a large bounce back out of her first pass on floor – also out of the double pike. soo….9.975?!?!?! 9.850. LOLOLOLOLOLOL.

Slappey – BB – check on loso series – love her leap amplitude – side aerial to full dismount.

Boren – FX – great amplitude on tuck full – does slide backward out of it. back 1.5 to front layout – pulls around double tuck well, just a controlled step, but it was kind of off to the side.

Marino – FX – great stick on double tuck.

Ewing – BB – nice on the layout to two feet – solid this time – hop forward on 1.5 dismount.

lovely leaps from Krippner on beam – larger break with leg up on loso series – sticsk 1.5 dismount – that should ensure they get over 196.

Baker – FX – So she’s back on three events today – awesome on the Dos Santos – also controlled on the double tuck, small but comfortable steps, hits leaps – 1.5 to half to straddle. Well, it was better than Boren’s routine, which went 9.950. You can argue both of the first two landings, though. And she gets a 10.000. Not her first on floor. Not her best floor routine either, but it was excellent. The only real question is whether that step on the double tuck counted as controlled. To me, not really.

Just five for Georgia on floor. They still go 49.500 because LOLOLOL.

We’re still going with LSU Kentucky becasue they were behind. Edney just hit beam because of course she did. 9.950. Just that. 39.625 in the AA, which she wasn’t even supposed to do.

Finnegan – BB – judges making up for some low vault scores for LSU with these last two rotations – bhs loso series, pretty and secure – switch 1/2 is an actual switch 1/2 – huge break on side somi and comes off. They already have a 20 billion on beam, so it won’t matter as long as Gnat hits.

Dukes – FX – good double pike, controlled step back – pretty good extension on switch ring and split 1/2 – front 1/1 to front lay is solid as well – sticks double tuck, chest down but a very good one for her on what had been a weak day.

Gnat – BB – walkover to beat – full turn a little tight but no check – switch and straddle 1/4, good positions, check – switch side and another check on that one – another check on loso series, leg up – this is a tight one, she’s worried about couting a fall. Sticks 2/1. 9.850 – for a routine with three balance checks, on with a leg-up.

Korth – FX – piked full in – damn two steps back this time, and OOB – lovely in the rudi to loso – strong double pike, controlled step. A CONTROLLED STEP IS NOT A STICK, commentator!

And we’ve already started Arkansas and Alabama!

Better dynamics for Anderson on vault this week, still piked, step back, but didn’t land short.

Sims – UB – toe on to Ray – solid, way over arches her handstand, stays on the bars but a major form break, loses her legs entirely – DLO, good landing, legs apart.

MacMoyle – VT – hop to the side, pikes a little too much, but the hop was small on the full –

Judges having out-of-range conference on Sims score.

Jetter – UB – Rayu is fine, with she caught farther aaway from bar but fine – a little short on bail position – nice stick on the double front this time – very usable routine.

Speed – VT – excellent distance and shape, very clean vault – medium-sized hop back but excellent in the air.

Armbrecht – UB – bit of a WOGAtchev – very pretty pak – pauses on low bar and has to cast again – short final handstand – giant full to double tuck with a hop.

It’s a “two-meet weekend” Duckworth lineup.

McGlone – VT – sticks her full! Very nice – bends to hold the stick and just a touch of a hip angle but basically as well as she can do it. 9.825. Could have been higher, actually.

Bailey – Ub – Gorgeous handstands and toe point through the jaeger – this is excellent – full out and stuck. Ridiculous. One of her best bars routines. She finally got the dismount! 9.875 and same score as Jetter. No.

Rathjen competed a Ylayout last week but added the full this time to be a usable routine – piking and a hop back, but it’s higher than Anderson so a usable score.

McNeer – UB – what are you doing not leading off? What life is this? A little short on a couple vertical position but otherwise clean, hop back on DLO.

Now that we actually have a moment of a break…

Final:Florida 197.700, Auburn 196.400
Auburn’s high for the season, good meet for Florida, got particularly inflated in the second half of the meet, with the floor scores and the evaluation of some of those beam series, but a comfortable meet and a usable score. No Chant again. “Just resting” is what we were told last week…

LSU 197.475, Kentucky 195.750
Not a good meet for Kentucky coming off twogreat ones. Weak vault landings really did them in and couldn’t recover with the remaining scores even though they essentially hit. Tentative beaming as well. LSU had some weird moments with Hambrick having a surprisingly off first half of the meet, but it got much better and the low scores we seemed to see on vault (9.825 for Edney?) fell away into the land of ALL 9.9s FOR EVERYONE EVER.

Georgia 197.075, Missouri 196.075Georgia did well to endure a meet without Snead and Vega and with just five on a couple events. Dickson had a very good meet – no falls on beam even though the entire thing still looked terrifying – and then a massive favor on floor from the judges with those scores for a just OK rotation that went 49.500.

Southern Utah 195.800, NC State 194.650
Southern Utah had a nasty on beam to take away what looked like a 196.

Burton – UB – good shap to bail combination – great leg form – a bit short on hs and on the giant 1/1, holds the stick on the double tuck with a lean. They got through a rotation of five with five hits, but they will be well off 196 pace early on.

Armbrecht – VT – pretty good shape on her full – hop in place and a little bit of legs.

Dana discussed the strategic nature of the lineups today, and it’s showing. It’s not the total Alabama would have wanted after 2 events, which is a combination of a distinctly B-team lineup missing several of their better scores and the judging being actually realistic instead of what we just finished seeing and the usual SECing.

It’s just about getting through bars these days for Arkansas, but they did. Speed and McGlone stood out with excellent vaults.

Rotation 3:Yamzon – BB – switch side is very nice, good complete position three series to loso with a leg up wobble – full turn – secure kickover front – sticks gainer full – fine one, just that break on the loso series –

Desch – FX – extremely deep landing on double arabian with a lunge forward – somehow stayed on her feet – 1.5 to 1/2 second pass is very clean – switch ring and split full, excellent position, does land a little awkwardly on the split full because she was actually focusing on getting it around – double tuck SUPER deep as well and this time she does fall.

Garner – BB – well at least she’s back on beam – excellent positions on switch and split – long pause before side aerial to loso series, but it’s very solid, well performed – side aerial to full dismount with a step back. Two season-best looking routines so far for Arkansas.

Armbracht – FX – double tuck, lunge back a little bigger than I’d like to see but fine – switch side and popa are well completed – 1.5 to layout with a dance forward step – short double pike, chest down and lunge forward.

Nelson – BB – switch side is well done – bhs loso series is secure and clean – switch to straddle 1/4 – a little deep landing front tuck but avoids any wobbles – full turn – sticks 1.5. Another very good one. Three excellent routines in a row.

Bresette – FX – double pike, also chest down, lunge back to control it – a little short of split in that split 1/1 – 1.5 to layout, a bit whippy in pulling around the layout, needs more amplitude to not have to pull it around – very short double tuck, hands down. Alabama counting a fall on floor now.

McGlone – BB – small check on full turn – pike jump to loso, corrects it with a lean but both minor errors so far – secure loso series – strong switch side – too short on her 2/1 dismount with a step forward. More breaks than the first three in the lineup but still a very usable hit.

Winston – FX – DLO is great, does bounce a little on landing this time but not too bad – just may not be the 9.950 she has been getting – nice front layout to front full, no whipping, good height – switch ring is awesome, obviously – nailed landing on double tuck – will be a very strong total. oh, just 9.925 this time.

Burton – BB – smooth walkover, some hesitation into beat jump but not too much to take it away – excellent loso series, good extension and control – high switch and straddle 1/4, a bit short of 180 on straddle 1/4 but she has the height on it – sticks 1.5. This is quite a strong rotation.

Valentin – FX – opens with a double front! Deep and a lunge forward but a double front! layout to front full, minor stumble – very high double pike but lands it crunched down –

Who’s anchoring floor for Alabama? Sarah’s houndstooth sweater?

Rathjen is anchoring beam for Arkansas – was off right from the start of the loso series and falls. They have to count McGlone’s 9.725, but they’ll still go over 49 for 49.125, which is a victory for this rotation. Four 9.850s.

Rotation 4:
Childers – BB – love how high she gets on that loso series – no don’t do a closeup during her full turn, that’s the best part – split and sheep, sheep a little eh, redoes the sheep to get a leap combination I guess – oh didn’t anyone tell her doing a series was so two weeks ago – kickover front to scale – sticks 1.5. –

9.475 for Childers, presumably not getting a leap series after all? But she did repeat and did beat jump to sheep. I actually thought the connection was fine the first time but maybe the sheep shouldn’t get credit? The first one was quite weak

Bargiacchi – FX – back 1.5 to loso second pass is excellent, very high

Desch – BB – walkover to bhs series, which ACTUALLY moves quickly between skills and should be counted as a connection – it’s a brand new world – solid on side somi, holds it well since her center of gravity looked off – nice switch – stumble backward on 1.5, a couple steps there.

Yamzon – FX – efficient shape in double pike, does lunge back like they whole team has done – switch side popa, a little angled on the popa – front full to layout with another slide – solid double tuck – should be a fine score.

McNeer – BB – the day of McNeer not leading off lineups – walkover to bhs series, slow in connection and then a leg-up wobble on bhs – weird – better on the loso series – switch to split is fine, but she is tight on a lot of skills this time, small checks – holds onto the stick on 1.5 with a lean.

Elswick – FX – nice height and toe point on her double pike, tinier bounce – good amplitude on switch side and wolf 1/1 – all playing to the camera – wolf jump 1.5 is actually pretty well around – 1.5 to layout – good routine

Sims – BB – Save us, please – smooth full turn – walkover to split is fantastic – solid loso series as usual – switch and straddle 1/4 precise – nothing to take so far – dismounts gainer pike instead of double tuck, which is smart but also a shame. Also, that routine was flawless. 9.900.

Guerrero – BB – bhs to two losos is secure – switch to straddle, strong positions – confidence and flair on the full turn – this routine is always surprising in that it is one skill long – side aerial to full, deep landing on the full with a hop to the side.

Anderson – FX – good height on double pike but she also steps OOB – front full to front layout, medium stumble on the layout but keeps her feet – switch ring and split with a composure pause in between – deep double tuck and steps OOB again.

So…that sure was a meet. Arkansas wins. Aside from Arkansas’s beam and Katie Bailey’s bars, it was a bleak show.

FINAL: Arkansas 195.825, Alabama 195.325

Join me tomorrow for Michigan, Nebraska, UCLA, Oregon State, Utah, and Washington. It will be…just as fun? Was this fun? Is that what fun is?

I’m off to go update the weekly scores and leaderboard.

Wynter Childers beam score has been raised to 9.775, which makes a lot more sense. Maddie Desch’s floor score has been lowered to 9.075. Because it was just that kind of day.

I agree Jewella and it wasn’t just her talking. She was giving out wrong scores, information and misidentifying skills. Someone said she was a former coach at Kentucky. It’s pretty bad when a former coach can’t get at least the skills correct.

Does anyone else read Spencer’s routine recaps and mentally score the routine and then get really mad when the real life scores don’t match up even though they have seen precisely zero of the routine?! 😂 😂

If it’s the same as last week, it’s Holly Rowe. In my opinion, she’s one of the best commentators in all of sports (she does a lot of college football and basketball). This is her first season doing gymnastics. Give her some time — you can tell she does her research and watches routines of previous weeks because she references them a lot.

As a side note, she’s also a wonderful person. I recommend reading about her, she’s an inspiration, especially for any women who want to get into journalism.

I get that Alabama has 2 meets this weekend, but outside of the beam group, this appears to be a C lineup at best. Bresette on floor? Armbrect in the AA? Either Dana is taking exploring depth to a new level or the injury situation on the team is much worse than known.

Spencer, I know you were watching 45 meets at once thanks to fantastic and reasonable scheduling, but can we get a shoutout for D-D’s ensemble? This was not an abstract tiger interpretation, this was full on beast. And those black ankle boots? She gets a 9.9 too.

And another thing (I realize I’m probably talking to myself here) – the amount of nonsense on last night’s LSU broadcast was astounding, even by NCAA gymnastics standards. Some of my favorites:
– (lunges out of a pass) “That was a stick!” (MULTIPLE TIMES)
– Lexie Priessman is apparently a magician because she was listed in both the LSU and Kentucky lineups
– “Great Tkatchev and… transition… back up to the high bar.”
– “Think she’ll be cheering on the Patriots this weekend?” Uh, guys, the big football meet is not this weekend.

I think we need to give some of these broadcasters a bit of a break, especially if they are new to either gymnastics or commentating. ESPN has added so many meets to their televised schedule that they’ve had to hire either former gymnasts with no journalism background or journalists with no gymnastics background.

Listen to one of Kevin Copp’s first meets and one of his meets today. There’s a big difference. Give them time and they may be a new favorite.

Speaking of commentators, I sincerely hope I never have the misfortune of hearing Carly Patterson live on air again. She knew nothing about Utah or Washington’s seasons thus far, nothing about the gymnasts competing today (save Skinner), and added absolutely nothing of value to the broadcast. Her commentating actually detracted from the meet.